Jun Fujita By Eastland Disaster Historical Society 29-Apr-16 – Jun Fujita was the first Japanese-American photojournalist and he captured some of the most notable photographs of the 1915 Eastland Disaster.

Jun was born in 1888 in a village near Hiroshima, Japan. He immigrated from Japan to Canada, where he worked odd jobs to save enough money to move to America. He moved to Chicago, where he attended and graduated from Wendell Phillips Academy High School, a four-year predominantly African-American public school, notable alumni of which include Nat King Cole.

After high school, he studied mathematics at Armour Institute of Technology, now known as Illinois Institute of Technology, with plans to become an engineer.

To help pay his way through college, Fujita took a job as the first and only photojournalist at Chicago Evening Post, which later became Chicago Daily News. He was the only photographer to document the aftermath of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

(Right) A rescuer holds the lifeless body of a victim of the Eastland Disaster. Photo by Jun Fujita.

In addition to photography, Fujita was a silent film actor and published poet.

Other heroes at the scene…

Abraham Isaac Blumenthal was an immigrant from England who came to America with his family in 1902. Abraham was selling newspapers on the dock alongside the Chicago River on July 24, 1915. He was responsible for paying the newspaper company for each newspaper, even copies he could not account for. As the disaster unfolded right before him, and without concern for the money he might owe, he threw down his newspapers and jumped into the river to help pull people out.

Anthony Neubauer was a great swimmer and diver and known to have a perfect jackknife. When Anthony heard about the tragedy, he jumped on a streetcar and headed downtown to help any way he could. As soon as he arrived, he jumped in and started pulling people to safety but his efforts soon became that of a recovery diver, pulling victims from the river.

George Alfred Saunders was born in Massachusetts and spent his early years on the east coast. He came to Chicago and was employed by Joe Falcon, a diving contractor. Later, while working for the City of Chicago, he met Dan Donovan. Saunders and Donovan took the city’s first examination for divers and worked as partners. George was one of the divers who had the grisly task of assisting in the recovery phase of the tragedy.

Edward Zimmerman was a welder who owned a welding shop in the 4100 block of West Lake Street. He was called to help with rescue efforts and had a hard time getting through the crowds as he carried two oxygen tanks on his shoulders. Edward worked continuously for 48 hours, cutting holes in the hull of the Eastland to get people out. He was later awarded a star by Cook County Coroner Peter Hoffman.